[X] Make your way north towards Shirome, hypnotising as you head back to Oriko's mansion
"I promise, Madoka, this won't hurt a bit," you say. "Just let my aunt do what she needs to, and we'll have this all taken care of in no time."
"Then me and Archer can get out of your hair for a while, and you two can go back to being all lovey-dovey with each other," Aunt Illya says. "Sound good?"
Archer rolls his eyes, and says in an exasperated tone "Don't encourage them. Homura's the responsible daughter. Don't encourage her to be like her sister."
"But I haven't even met her sister yet~" Aunt Illya pouts. "'Cause someone won't let me~!"
"I know; and I'm sorry," Archer says. "You came all this way to see your brother's family, and instead we've kept you busy with whatever random nonsense we needed to take care of. But I promise you, you'll get to see Kirika and Minako once we're done here."
True to his word, once Aunt Illya finished setting up the promised safety measures for Madoka – and once you were able to pry your familiar away from Madoka's embrace – Archer made sure that north was the first direction you all headed. Your familiar is still fuming, or at least as much fuming as can be done with a perpetual grin on its face, but you're sure that it's actually fuming underneath that grin.
"Oh, behave, will you?" you say, doing all you can to hold back from kicking the stupid thing before it actually causes a problem. "What if mom sees you looking like that?" What if mom sees it at all? She may have thought the birds were cute, but there's no guarantee that she'll find this facsimile of her adopted daughter equally so. You'd better find a way to put it away, and fast. "Actually, don't answer that. Maybe just go away before mom sees you at all."
"Don't be mean to her, Homura," Aunt Illya says. "Sure, she might not be what your mom was expecting, but she's still from you. She's still your mom's precious grandkid."
"No, I think Minako would just find it unsettling," Archer says. "She's not really much of a fan of how all this magic stuff puts her family in danger, and seeing something that looks like a funhouse mirror of Homura might just make her upset, especially so soon to when she has to leave."
With far more reluctance than its grinning face can display, the familiar of you finally goes away when asked to leave; and not a moment too soon, because your long walk – good lord, you don't think you've ever appreciated the train quite as much as you do now – north to Shirome is finally over. You check the time on your phone; school is definitely out by now, and for all you know Oriko has already made her way home by now. You hake your head; no, she's definitely home by now, unless Kirika was somehow able to convince her that they should take off together so they could be alone.
You doubt she'd go that far. Your sister loves Oriko, but she's not going to skip out on taking care of her mom for her.
Unfortunately, where one familiar goes away, another decides that now is the time to play. You hope this doesn't become an issue, that you're unable to control when your familiars come and go. You assume it must have been the residual thoughts of Oriko in your mind as you approached the mansion that drew out the familiar shaped like Kirika. "Oh, not you too," you moan, cupping your head in your hand as your party rounds the last corner to-
"Oh, wow!" Aunt Illya's excited chirping is almost enough to break through the headache you just know your familiars are going to give you. "You really live here? It's got to be as big as Tohsaka's place in Fuyuki!"
"I wish we lived here," Archer says as he buzzes the front gate. "This is actually where Kirika's girlfriend lives. She's letting us stay here until this all blows over, since Sidonia knows where we actually live and we needed a way to keep Minako safe until then."
Aunt Illya nods her head, and the three of you all wait patiently for someone – probably Lancer, if Oriko is already home – to open the gate and welcome you in. The fourth member of your party, your Kirika familiar, is much less patient with their waiting, and despite all your attempts to hold them in one place they squirm about with almost as much energy as the real deal.
But it isn't Lancer who opens the gate for you; it's Oriko herself. "Good afternoon," she says to you and Archer. "I trust you both had a safe journ-Eh!" Oriko's words are cut off as your Kirika-shaped familiar breaks free from your hold, and lunges at Oriko, full-throttle. It leaps into her arms, forcing her to catch it, before lavishing affection on her as though it were the real thing; and, again as if it were the real thing, Oriko reciprocates. "Goodness, Akemi-san, just what is this adorable little creature?"
"I tried my hand at making a few more familiars," you say. "My most recent batch are… Effigies, I guess you ould call them, made in our images from my memories of the times we've worked together." You stare at your familiar as it nuzzles Oriko's chest like a baby looking for its mother's affection. Or it would, were it not for that constant grin which gives its actions a much more Kirika feel to them. "They seem to mimic, uh, exaggerations of who they take after, I guess. The one that looks like me is drawn to Madoka, while this one is apparently drawn to you."
"I just hope there isn't one of me that Kirika will have to share her affection with," Oriko says. "I can already see this little one causing problems."
"There is, but I think we all lucked out in that department," you say. "That one's much more reserved." You hope.
"Well, then, let me let you all in," Oriko says. "Your guest as well." Oriko curtseys for Aunt Illya, and says to her "My apologies for not introducing myself sooner," as if the reason she didn't weren't evident enough. "My name is Mikuni Oriko. I'm the owner of this mansion, and the girlfriend of Archer and Minako-san's eldest daughter. Who might you be?"
Aunt Illya curtseys in reply. "My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern," she says. "I'm Archer's sister. It's so good to meet you, Mikuni-san."
Oriko lets you all in, and as soon as you've taken your shoes off, you are greeted by an enthusiastic hug from Kirika. "Welcome back, sis," she says. "Everything go all right?" Before you have a chance to say anything, Kirika has already shot a glare at the miniature Kirika nuzzling itself against Oriko's chest, and has addressed Aunt Illya with a questioning "Who's the colour-inverted you, sis?"
"My name is Illyasviel von Einzbern. I'm Archer's sister and, since you're calling Homura your sister, that must make you Kirika, right?" Stunned, Kirika can say nothing as Aunt Illya says "So that makes me I'm your aunt. It's good to finally meet you. You're almost as cute as the tiny version of you your sister made."
At a loss for words, Kirika can only stammer out a stunned "Uh, thanks… I, uh, I never had an aunt before. Mom and my real dad didn't have any siblings."
"Well you've got one now," Aunt Illya says, approaching Kirika and drawing her into a hug; "And I'd say you've got the best aunt in the whole world, 'cause I am going to spoil you two rotten, just as soon as all this is over."
Much like yourself, processing the appearance of an aunt you only tenuously knew of before her surprise appearance, Kirika can barely think to say anything. "Uh, I'll let mom know we're having a guest, then," is all she can say. "Sorry I'm not saying much. This is kind of… Unexpected."
"No worries!" Aunt Illya says. "You'll have plenty of time to get to know your new auntie when this is all cleared up!"
Everyone follows Kirika into the living room where Minako is working, and immediately- "Wow." Aunt Illya is struck by your mom's appearance. When Kirika gets mom's attention, Illya curtseys and introduces herself, before sneaking an aside to Archer, saying "I can see where Homura and Kirika get their good looks from. She's really pretty."
"Kure Minako," Mom introduces herself to Aunt Illya much less dramatically. "I appreciate the compliment. Both of my daughters are lookers, but I'm afraid I can only take credit for Kirika. But Homura's parents did more than their fair share in making sure she turned out just as beautiful."
"I'm sorry for presuming," Aunt Illya says, offering another bow to mom. "Aside from your eye colour, you two really do look like you could be related, so I just thought-"
"Oh, no, I take it as a compliment,' Minako says. "It makes me glad whenever anyone thinks that Homura could have come from me." She smiles, and pulls you into a hug. "She may be adopted, but I'm just as proud of Homura as I am of Kirika."
"That's good,' Aunt Illya says. There's a wistfulness in her voice as she add "Big Brother was adopted, too, but I'm sure dad didn't think any less of him for it," that makes you remember how Archer described the Illya of his timeline.
"She was so angry, at first, because she thought our father had forgotten about her and replaced her with me."
"So, now that everyone is home-" Minako speaks up to grab Archer's attention. "What's for dinner?"
"Well, since Illya's visiting, I thought maybe I could make something fancy to celebrate another member of the family coming into all our lives."
Mom rolls her eyes. "Archer, everything you make is fancy," she says. "Even rice and grilled fish. So really, what's it going to be?"
"How about my dad's favourite?" Archer asks, turning his head to grab Aunt Illya's attention. "Hamburg steak. I'll make a vegetarian equivalent with tofu for Oriko, if that's okay with everyone?"
"You're a vegetarian?" Aunt Illya asks Oriko. When she nods her head, Aunt Illya says "Then I've got a dish I think you'll love. It's a vegetable stew with lots of cabbage that grandfather used to have the maids make. It's really tasty, and it's great in the winter 'cause it really warms you up inside."
Oriko nods her head. "I would appreciate that, Einzbern-san," she says, as Aunt Illya pouts at being addressed so formally. "Pardon me for asking, though – I don't want to be rude – but are you perhaps foreign? Your Japanese has somewhat of an accent; are you perhaps Scandinavian?"
"Close," Aunt Illya says. "My grandfather's family is from Germany, and so was my mom. Only my dad was Japanese, and after grandfather-" Aunt Illya bites her lip, saying "-Kicked him out of the family, I stayed in Germany with my grandfather until I grew up. How did you know?"
"Ah, that's easy." Without a word or gesture, Lancer appears at Oriko's side, and Oriko says "My servant, Lancer, is from Iceland. Your accents aren't identical, but you had a similar enough accent that I thought another Scandinavian country might be a good guess."
"Oh, wow… She's so pretty~" Aunt Illya marvels at Lancer's appearance, and she turns to ask you "Does everyone on your team have their own servant?"
You nod your head. "Two of the Pleiades Saints are missing servants, but everyone else on both of our teams has a servant of their own. I'm sure you'll have a chance to meet them later tonight. It'll be good for our newest member to learn what her teammates are capable of in the coming fight."
Looking at the plate in front of Oriko, you aren't sure if Hamburg steak can really be called 'Hamburg steak' when it's made from anything but. It doesn't look particularly offensive, and judging from Oriko's lack of disgust as she eats it, it clearly must not be particularly offensive, either. But it just doesn't seem right to you to call it 'Hamburg steak' when there isn't even any beef in it.
"So, Illya, you aid you were from Germany?" Minako asks. You don't have to ask how mom is enjoying dinner; you know she's Archer's number one fan. When Aunt Illya nods her head, Minako says "I've always wanted to take Kirika travelling to a lot of different countries. What's Germany like?"
"Cold,' Aunt Illya says. "Around this time of year, Germany can get really cold. I don't mind the cold, since I'm used to it, but even still I prefer to spend the colder months in Fuyuki, instead. That's where all my friends live, and sometimes I even get to see my other big brother, too."
"He's not home that often, I take it?" Minako asks. "Tohsaka's always complaining about not being able to see him, either. What does he do?"
"Shirou's almost always doing some sort of humanitarian work," Aunt Illya says. "Right now he's in Egypt helping people that got caught up in all the craziness that happened there last year."
"Sounds like he'll be kept busy for a while, then," Minako says. "Are you proud of your brother?"
"Yeah. Even if he's not pursuing the path of a mage, like Tohsaka, Matou, or myself, he's still doing a lot of good in the world. Probably more than what the rest of us are doing, actually. Tohsaka always tries to make the advancement of mage society as a whole sound like something that's really worthwhile, but personally I think helping the needy and the homeless in war-torn countries is doing a lot more good for the world overall."
"I couldn't agree more," Oriko says. "Your Shirou is doing God's work. I shouldn't envy him for all the good he's doing."
"Well, you girls are trying to save the entire world, aren't you?" Aunt Illya asks. "I think that's plenty good, too. You shouldn't feel like you aren't doing enough."
Kirika nods her head. "Oriko, don't let what someone else is doing make you think you're not doing enough," she says "'Cause you totally are."
Aunt Illya turns her attention over to Kirika now that she's spoken up. "You two are really close, aren't you?" she asks. "I could tell from how jealous you looked when you saw Homura's little familiar hugging her. How did you two meet?"
Kirika is taken aback by Aunt Illya's question. "Well, we met at the bookstore, actually," she says. "It was the middle of summer, two years ago; I was buying some manga, and Oriko helped me pick stuff up when I dropped everything I'd been carrying. I wasn't nearly as, uh… Me, as I am now, if that makes any sense, and since mom and dad had been divorced six years at that point, that had been the first time anyone who wasn't mom showed any kind of concern for me." Kirika scratches at the back of her head. "I, uh, I guess I took it a little too far when I asked a girl I barely even knew if she wanted to be my girlfriend, but I'm so glad I did , 'cause she said yes, and now the rest's history!
Archer leans over in his seat, and whispers something to Aunt Illya, who nods her head and makes a silent "Oh." "So, you two have been dating for two years, then?"
Kirika nods her head. "Yup, and they've been the best two years of my life, 'cause I haven't just been with Oriko in that time; I got a new sis, and a new dad, too, and me and mom got to move out of our crappy old tiny apartment and into a place that's actually big enough for us." Minako nudges Kirika with her elbow, and she hastily adds "Oh, and I guess I got a new aunt, too. Sorry; I'm really still taking this in. I knew that dad had a sister, but actually meeting you and having to process that you're a real person, and not just someone from one of dad's stories, is kind of…"
When Kirika can't find the right word to describe what she's feeling, she wags her hand, and Aunt Illya finishes for her. "I understand. Homura was also taken by surprise when I showed up. But I do hope you'll both warm up to me, eventually."
"They will, Illya," Minako says. "Just give it some time. You know, it took Homura an entire month after I'd adopted her before she was comfortable with calling me 'mom'. Kirika…" Minako looks over to Kirika, who is too busy giving affectionate glances over to Oriko to notice. "She's just surprised, since she knows even less about Archer's life and his family than Homura does."
Suddenly, a quite visible thought can be seen passing through Minako's mind, and she says "Actually, now that I mention it, I don't know all that much about what Archer's family or his life before all of us was like, either. He's told me a few things, here and there, but I only know the basic outline. But I bet you know a lot more than that, am I right?"
"Oh, do you want to know more about big brother's life?" Aunt Illya asks. "To be honest, I don't know much about your Big Brother, since he's, uh…" Aunt Illya pauses, unsure of how to continue, before she says "He's not actually from this timeline. I guess him being a servant of gives that away, but if you didn't know that already…"
"Oh, no, I'm well aware of Archer's… Situation," Minako says. "Frankly, that's the one part about him I can't say I love, because him being a servant means we can't have children."
Aunt Illya makes a sad "Aw," sound. "That's too bad, I bet you two would make a lot of really cute kids, too." Auntie Illya, please do not encourage my mom. You do not know how little encouragement she needs to get going. "But, back to what I was saying. I can only tell you so much about the Big Brother that I do know, and that's only all the stuff I learned about him after we met. But he was already seventeen by then, and once he graduated high school, he went off to study magecraft at the Clocktower, and as soon as he finished, he went out into the world. So, you'll have to excuse me if what I'm able to tell you is limited as well."
"No, that's perfectly understandable," Minako says. "You tell me whatever you're able to."
"It's not as if I'm trying to hide my past from you," Archer says. "It's just that… Well, the stuff I've done doesn't often come up, and it's kind of hard to talk about it because of the circumstances under which it occurred."
"Well, let's start from the beginning, then," Minako says. "I get that you're not from this timeline… However that's supposed to work out, but maybe you could tell me how and why you're thirty-four, when the Emiya Shirou that everyone else knows is only…" Minako looks over at Aunt Illya, and asks her "What, twenty-five? Twenty-six?"
Aunt Illya nods her head. "My Big Brother just turned twenty-six earlier this month," she says.
"That's because, in my own timeline, I died when I was thirty-two," Archer says. You see quivering lips from both mom and Kirika; they must have known that he'd died at some point in order to become a servant, but hearing that he'd died so young, young enough that he's now technically outlived himself, brings a shock to their faces. "After that, I became the World's property, so that's the age I was locked in as whenever I'd get spat out somewhere to take out the trash. In a cosmic sense, I guess I'm still technically thirty-two, but since I've got legal paperwork, and have had two birthdays since settling down with everyone, that's how I'm thirty-four. The Emiya Shirou that everyone else knows is the age he should be."
"So, what?" Minako asks. "You just went to school for four years, then threw yourself at the world for a decade until it killed you?"
"Pretty much," Archer says with some hesitation. "Look, Minako, there's a reason Rin always says to keep an eye on me, and it's not because she's afraid I'll stray. Frankly, I was an idiot. I'm still probably an idiot, but having a family, having to worry about people other than myself for once, keeps my idiocy in check."
Aunt Illya nods her head. "My Big Brother is the same way," she says. "So please, make sure this one stays safe. He's got too much to lose, and if he dies, it'll be really awkward for me to keep seeing my nieces."
"So… Was mage school just that awful, that you thought throwing yourself at the rest of the world was better?" This time, it's Kirika who asks. "'Cause I mean, if it is, maybe we should try a little harder to warn Shizuki off about going to school."
"It's complicated," Archer says. "Studying and the coursework itself isn't really the bad part; I just had other priorities at the time than to devote my time to studying magecraft. No, the real bad part, and the part that I know Rin has warned Shizuki about multiple times, is mage society as a whole. Sure, Rin and McRemitz are nice enough people, and some of the more forward-thinking professors aren't the worst, but they are not the average mage. The average mage is a self-centered ass who only cares about themselves and their research, and all else be damned. Frankly, I hope Shizuki gets the most out of her studies that she can, and then comes straight home without ever bothering to get herself mixed up in that nonsense."
"Who's Shizuki?" Aunt Illya asks.
"She's one of my friends," you say, now that you finally have a chance to speak. "She's a first-generation mage that Tohsaka-san is tutoring."
"Oh, wow, a real first-generation mage?" Aunt Illya sounds ecstatic. "Does she know how rare that is?" You nod your head; Tohsaka-san has impressed on all of you how rare Hitomi's gift is in the world of mages. "Goodness. Tohsaka's only said bits and pieces to us about a new student she'd been tutoring for the past year; to think they'd be a first-generation mage, and a friend of my nieces, too!"
"We're very lucky to have her," you say. "Now, Aunt Illya, maybe you'd be willing to tell us a little bit more about Germany? Oriko visits Italy every year to see her relatives-" At the head of the table, Oriko nods her head, and you can already see her fondly recalling the six weeks in summer she and Kirika spent with the Ortensia clan. "-and she's told us all about it, so I'm very interested to hear how Germany is different. You've said that it's cold around this time of year, but what else can you tell us?"
"Well, there's lots of things I could tell you," Aunt Illya says. "For example, Japan is famous for Mount Fuji, right? Well in Germany…"
[ ] Wat do?
